Labor Negotiations

2018 Labor Contract Updates

The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) collective bargaining agreement with Sandia National Laboratories expires July 27, 2018. The agreement covers about 490 employees.

Negotiations for a new contract are scheduled to begin in June. The agreed-upon dates are June 12 and 14 and July 9, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Sandia's team is prepared and has offered to negotiate the entire month of July if additional time is required and the union becomes available.

On May 30, 2018, Sandia provided a comprehensive business and benefits update to the OPEIU representatives in preparation for upcoming negotiations.

Please refer to this website for any significant updates on the contract negotiation process.

July 26, 2018, 7:55 p.m. update

Sandia is pleased that bargaining between Sandia and the OPEIU concluded with union members ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement tonight. This new agreement is effective July 28, 2018, through Sept. 22, 2021.

Sandia appreciates the hard work over the past six weeks by both parties to reach an agreement that is fair to union members who work at Sandia. Working together, we will continue to carry out our important national security mission.

July 25, 2018, 5:45 p.m. update

Sandia and the union have finalized a tentative agreement today for a new collective bargaining agreement. Union representatives have said they will recommend ratification to members, who will vote on the agreement Thursday evening. At the union's request, we are respectfully allowing the union to communicate details of the agreement to its members. We encourage all OPEIU members to vote on Thursday.

July 25, 2018, 10:10 a.m. update

Sandia and union negotiators reached a tentative agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement last night and will be finalizing the details today. Sandia will post details on this website after these discussions are completed.

July 24, 2018, 7:25 p.m. update

Sandia and OPEIU negotiators met several times throughout the day to reach agreement on the contract, which expires Friday. On the 11th day of talks, the parties have exchanged comprehensive proposals that covered all contract articles.

Sandia plans to work late to resolve the remaining issues.

July 23, 2018, 6:35 p.m. update

Sandia and the union met several times today, reaching agreements on nearly all noneconomic issues and having productive discussions on major economic items.

Sandia has proposed aligning union member benefits with those of nonrepresented Sandia employees. Union members would then get benefits changes, including improvements such as vacation-buy hours, at the same time as other employees. Reaching agreement on those benefits will allow negotiations to continue moving forward with discussions on wages and other economic issues.

With less than a week before the contract expires at midnight Friday, both negotiating teams are continuing to work into the evening.

July 20, 2018, 5:45 p.m. update

Sandia and OPEIU representatives wrapped up four days of productive talks this week, capped by a union proposal on wage increases for OPEIU-represented employees.

Talks mainly focused on noneconomic proposals, with the parties reaching tentative agreements on a considerable number of them.

With only a week until the contract expiration date next Friday, the wage proposal marks a turning point in the talks. Sandia is encouraged by the forward momentum this week and is looking forward to productive discussions next week to reach an agreement that is fair to Sandia's OPEIU-represented employees and supports Sandia's national security mission.

Talks are scheduled to resume Monday.

July 19, 2018, 3:25 p.m. update

Sandia and OPEIU representatives met today for negotiations that have been increasingly productive over the eight days at the table.

Sandia has worked hard to understand the union's proposals and requests in order to reach solutions for an agreement that is fair to OPEIU members who work at Sandia and to support Sandia's national security mission.

We look forward to reaching an agreement on union operations, rules governing overtime pay and a proposal to align union member benefits with those of nonrepresented employees so they would get benefits changes at the same time as other employees. Doing so would allow us to move forward on a meaningful discussion of the members' wages.

Sandia has made its team available since June 12; however, OPEIU representatives came to the bargaining table for only two days in June. The union was then unavailable to meet for the next three weeks. In July, Sandia's team offered to negotiate July 10 and July 13-16, but the union was unavailable.

Sandia is encouraged that the union has expressed willingness to negotiate Monday through Friday next week.

July 18, 2018, 7:40 p.m. update

Sandia and union negotiators met for several sessions today, concluding with a productive session that ended about 7 p.m.

Sandia previously proposed aligning union member benefits with those of nonrepresented employees so they would get benefits changes at the same time as other employees. Examples of recent benefits changes include additional vacation-buy hours and Sandia Extras supplemental insurance options. The union negotiators delegated by the international trustee rejected that offer today. Sandia has yet to receive any wage proposal from OPEIU representatives.

Negotiations continue tomorrow.

July 17, 2018, 7:20 p.m. update

Sandia and OPEIU representatives had productive conversations today at the bargaining table that focused on issues important to both parties. Sandia is hopeful that the negotiations are gaining momentum and progressing in a cooperative manner.

Sandia and the union also decided that if a tentative agreement is not reached by the end of this week and more talks are needed, representatives from both sides will continue negotiations next week.

Negotiations will resume tomorrow as previously scheduled.

July 12, 2018, 7:40 p.m. update

Sandia and the OPEIU met for several sessions throughout the day. The OPEIU international’s bargaining coordinator has joined the talks as the lead negotiator.

Sandia offered to negotiate Friday through Monday, but the union is unavailable until Tuesday, July 17, when negotiations will resume as scheduled.

Sandia is hopeful that negotiations will move forward quickly. Sandia is committed to bargaining in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to our employees and that supports our national security mission.

July 11, 2018, 7:00 p.m. update

Sandia and OPEIU representatives met for the fourth day of negotiations. Nearly every article in the contract has been discussed. With only five scheduled days of talks remaining and none scheduled for the week of July 23, Sandia had hoped more progress would have been made by this point. Sandia offered to return to the table this evening, but the union was unavailable.

As the union had previously informed us, the international trustee is unavailable for the rest of the scheduled negotiation dates. The OPEIU trustee’s delegate, another international representative, will take over as lead negotiator at the table starting tomorrow.

July 9, 2018, 6:30 p.m. update

Sandia and the OPEIU resumed negotiations. Based on prior conversations and the limited dates offered by the union, the Sandia team anticipated that the union would have provided more responses to Sandia’s proposals either ahead of talks or at the bargaining table today. Sandia presented and discussed several new proposals.

Sandia remains committed to bargaining in good faith to reach an agreement before the contract’s expiration date. The union is unavailable negotiate tomorrow, so the teams will meet back at the table Wednesday, when Sandia looks forward to making more progress.

June 14, 2018, 4:40 p.m. update

Sandia and the union negotiations team met at the table for several hours this morning and again for a short time this afternoon, wrapping up discussions at 2 p.m. Sandia looks forward to negotiations resuming July 9.

June 12, 2018, 6:15 p.m. update

Sandia National Laboratories and OPEIU began negotiating a new contract today, quickly agreeing to several noneconomic articles and discussing several others. Overall, the tone of the negotiations was positive. Sandia is looking forward to further productive sessions with the union to reach an agreement by the contract's expiration on July 27. Negotiations will continue Thursday.

Negotiation goals

Sandia’s goals are to bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that is fair to OPEIU members who work at Sandia and to support Sandia’s national security mission.

Sandia is committed to carrying out its national security mission and to continue meeting customer needs.

Sandia believes the place for the discussion of the contract is at the negotiating table.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525.